Ivan Kerr Tyres in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, are no strangers to the world of wheel alignment. Equipped with a hang on the laser system, ‘alignment’ had been a service the business had offered for many years.
However, according to owner Ivan Kerr, the equipment was causing more problems than it solved. “We lost complete confidence in our laser system as we had about three customer comebacks in every ten jobs. We stopped offering the service as it was taking up far too much time and I realised we were potentially losing lots of money.”
Determined to turn around this situation, Ivan carried out an extensive round of research to establish what equipment would suit his business best.
“I did lots of research and everything I found came back saying that the Hunter system was the best on the market,” continues Ivan. “My initial perception was that it was too expensive and not worth it, but I organised a demonstration and was simply blown away! I thought that with our previous system, we were doing a wheel alignment, but having seen the Hunter system, I now understood what REAL wheel alignment was!”
Reassured that the Hunter HawkEye Elite TD system was the right equipment for them, the new aligner was installed in the business in April 2015, and since then, the company hasn’t looked back.
“I wonder how other workshops and tyre shops can survive without a Hunter,” enthuses Ivan. “It’s so simple to use and has all of the equipment like weights and Codelink so that we can do a proper job by doing things like measuring the ride height, doing the alignment and then resetting the steering angle sensor. This level of service means we get lots of BMW drivers in and in fact, I’d argue we’re offering a better service than the main dealers can provide.”
But it’s not just BMW owners that the business is attracting. Initially, Ivan ran some introductory pricing to get his regular customers interested in the alignment service. Still, now people understand the value of the service and are more than happy to pay for it. Customers now travel significant distances to have their alignment checked, and the service is so successful that customers typically now need to book an alignment check in advance.
“We’re delighted with the system, but so are our customers too. They like seeing the results printouts, especially as the system can’t be cheated to provide false readings. It is a win-win situation.”
Summing up his decision to invest in the Hunter system, Ivan has no regrets whatsoever. “It is more expensive than its rivals, but you should think about the value for money, where it is streets ahead. Not only are you buying the best system on the market but you are also buying into the aftersales support too, which again, is first class.”
